Language
name and locationː Bwanabwana,
Papua New Guinea
[Refer to
Ethnologue] |
1. kaiɡeda / keseɡa in other dialects |
2. labui |
3. yaiyona / tolu in other dialects |
4. esopali |
5. valiɡiɡi |
6. valiɡiɡi kaiɡeda ( 5 + 1 ) |
7. valiɡiɡi labui ( 5 + 2 ) |
8. valiɡiɡi yaiyona ( 5 + 3 ) |
9. valiɡiɡi esopali ( 5 + 4 ) |
10. sanaulu |
11. sanaulu kaiɡeda |
12. sanaulu labui |
13. sanaulu yaiyona |
14. sanaulu esopali |
15. sanaulu valiɡiɡi |
16. sanaulu valiɡiɡi kaiɡeda |
17. sanaulu valiɡiɡi labui |
18. sanaulu valiɡiɡi yaiyona |
19. sanaulu valiɡiɡi esopali |
20. tau kaiɡeda simate (lit: ''they (prefix si-) killed one male / man'') * |
Linguist providing data and dateː Mr. Alan Canavan,
SIL International, Papua
New Guinea.
June 15, 2011. |
Other comments: Bwanabwana or Tubetube has a quinary counting system. 20 was expressed by the phrase 'tau kaigeda simate', 'mate' is a shortened form of koyamate or unuyamate 'to kill', so twenty may mean 'they (prefix si-) killed one male/man'. However, the new generation are quickly losing the numerals of six and above (with the possible exception of sanaulu 'ten'), and tend to transliterate the English words. Bwanabwana is spoken by about 2,400 speakers in southeast Basilaki island, Engineer islands and nearby islands, in Bwanabwana district, Milne Bay province, Papua New Guinea. |
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